Finning is less risky than it seems

Article Excerpt

Finning supplies Caterpillar heavy equipment and support services to resources companies, so its revenues tend to move up and down with commodity prices. To offset that cyclical risk, the company typically signs long-term support contracts when it sells new equipment, which gives its predictable revenue streams. Finning is also doing a good job controlling its costs. That, in turn, gives it more room to reward investors with higher dividends and share buybacks. FINNING INTERNATIONAL INC. $39 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol FTT; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Shares outstanding: 142.2 million; Market cap: $5.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 2.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.finning.com) sells and services Caterpillar-brand heavy equipment (such as tractors, backhoe loaders, off-highway trucks and drills) in Western Canada but also Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, the U.K. and Ireland. Its main customers are in the oil and gas, mining, forestry-products and construction industries. Canada is Finning’s biggest market, accounting for 52% of its net revenue. Other markets in order of…